When Andretti Formula E takes to the track in Valencia for official pre-season testing, the charter FIA Formula E team will be the first of the Andretti Global family of race teams to showcase the brand’s new identity. Season 10 teammates, reigning Formula E World Champion Jake Dennis and series race winner Norman Nato, will debut a special red, white and blue Andretti Global livery October 24 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, the home of Dennis’ maiden series victory in Season 7.

The launch of Andretti Global is a significant milestone in the team’s distinguished legacy that has unified all aspects of the organization under a single identity. The American outfit currently operates in eight motorsports platforms racing across six continents boasting over 260 wins with an appetite to expand its worldwide footprint into other major motorsports series.

“Andretti Global is built on a foundation of racing excellence, and it’s been rewarding to see our history and success come together in such a seamless, visual way,” said Michael Andretti, CEO and Chairman of Andretti Global. “The special Formula E livery we’re running in Valencia is a great representation of what we set out to achieve with this rebrand, and it’s fitting that the first time the Andretti Global brand will be on full display will be riding along with a reigning World Champion.”

In addition to the special livery design, Dennis will sport a new number on his Porsche 99X Electric. As a fitting acknowledgement to his Season 9 success, he will run the prestigious No. 1 for the duration of Season 10, a privilege reserved only for the reigning Driver Champion. Having chosen to use the No. 1 for the upcoming season, Dennis added, “I’ve always wanted to earn the right to use the No. 1 at some point in my career, and to do so for the first time in our new Andretti Global livery makes the moment even more special.”

Joining the defending Champion on the track will be recently signed, Norman Nato. The Frenchman’s Porsche 99x Electric will bear the No. 17, a heartfelt tribute to his late compatriot and friend Jules Bianchi. Sharing his thoughts on his meaningful choice, Nato said, “I’m proud to race under the No. 17 for the upcoming season – the number means a lot to me. I started in karting and won championships with the 17, but Jules also raced with the number, which makes it even more special. It’s a tribute to a great friend and an outstanding driver.”

Pre-season testing will also provide another opportunity for Barbadian driver, Zane Maloney, to represent the team in the mandatory rookie session. The current Formula 2 driver previously enjoyed outings with the team earlier this year, participating in the team’s rookie sessions in both Berlin and Rome.

Andretti Formula E heads into the highly anticipated landmark 10th season having already achieved 10 wins, 12 poles and a Driver Championship dating back to Formula E’s inaugural race in 2014. The unveiling of the special Andretti Global livery in Valencia sets the stage for an exciting new chapter to be written into the team’s racing history.

Here’s a video launch: https://x.com/AndrettiFE/status/1715367273932751166?s=20

Here’s final 2023/24 Formula E calendar

Here’s Formula E livery reveals –

DS Penske

Jaguar, McLaren

[Note: The story is as per press release]

L'entrada Andretti unveils new livery for 2023/24 Formula E season ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

For the second time this season Oracle Red Bull Racing has turned the RB19 into a canvas for the Team’s fans. Artwork from a member of The Paddock will decorate the 2023 Constructors’ Championship-winning car at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend, as part of the Make Your Mark campaign.

The competition sees members of The Paddock, Oracle Red Bull Racing’s free loyalty programme, challenged by the Team to design a bespoke livery for each of the USA Grand Prixes, as Max and Checo race stateside three times in one season for the first time.

Tens of thousands of new fans signed up to The Paddock, powered by the Team’s Title Partner Oracle, to take part in the campaign. Over 2000 unique liveries were submitted, which were individually reviewed by Oracle Red Bull Racing and the top designs were put to a vote on The Paddock, where almost 25,000 fans had their say. In the end, Franco Cavallone took the chequered flag in first place, with his design taking inspiration from the Lone Star Flag of Texas.

Franco’s winning design features bold, sweeping lines of red, white, and blue along the chassis and front and rear wings of the RB19 and ornate, Texan stars. The 39-year-old graphic designer from Capitán Bermúdez, Argentina, was captivated by Make Your Mark Miami, while attending the race in May and was inspired by fellow Argentinian Martina Andriano’s winning design. The RB19 roared to a one-two finish in those Miami colours, with Max and Checo grabbing a double podium.

Franco has been flown to Austin this week to see his livery revealed in person, at an exclusive launch event. He will then head trackside to experience a weekend with the World Champions and see the RB19 in real life, decorated with his design.

Team Principal and CEO, Christian Horner said: “It’s really exciting to see this unique, fan led competition come to life and coincide with the growth of Formula One and our supporters in the US, and to invite our global fanbase into the Team and our garage to Make Their Mark and design the very livery we race with. I think Franco has done an excellent job and the car looks incredible showcasing the Texan colours and culture.

“It’s not every day we release a one-off livery, so it’s even more special that it’s designed by our fans. Our hunger for winning continues for the remainder of the season, so hopefully this livery will be as winning as Martina’s in Miami, which saw Max and Checo finish on the top two steps of the podium. We’ll be sure to show Franco some strong southern hospitality if so! I’m fascinated to see what our fans come up with for the final US race in Las Vegas.”

The winner of Make Your Mark Austin, Franco Cavallone said: “The moment I was told I’d won it was a rollercoaster of emotions, I was so happy. I remember when I first found out about Make Your Mark, I was watching the second practice session at the Miami GP – it was the first time I’d been to a race – and I found out the Oracle Red Bull Racing livery was designed by a fan from Argentina, like me. When I got back to my hotel, I researched the competition and signed up to The Paddock and started designing my livery for Austin there and then.

“I thought about Austin and the Circuit of the Americas and took inspiration from the stripes and stars, and sweeping red, white, and blue lines around the corners of the track. I even spoke to Martina who won the Miami competition for advice. I’m a freelance graphic designer and this is easily the most exciting thing I’ve ever designed! It’s like a dream that this is happening to me, seeing my design on the car will be the best day ever, I can’t wait to see it on track.”

Here’s Daniel Ricciardo returning

Here’s AlphaTauri on selecting an experienced pair

Here’s Max Verstappen on F1 2023 title win

Here’s Christian Horner on Red Bull needing both drivers

Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact

[Note: The story is as per press release]

L'entrada Red Bull unveils special fan-made livery for F1 US GP ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

This fall, stars of two Netflix sports series will face off in The Netflix Cup, Netflix’s first-ever live sports event featuring athletes from Formula 1: Drive to Survive and Full Swing. The drivers and golfers will pair up to compete in a match play tournament at Wynn Golf Club at Wynn Las Vegas, the only 18-hole, championship golf course on the Las Vegas Strip, to kick off the week of the inaugural FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN SILVER LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX. The Netflix Cup is set to stream live on Netflix beginning at 3 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 14th. 

The Netflix Cup’s roster currently includes:

• Formula 1 Drivers: Alex Albon (Williams Racing), Pierre Gasly (BWT Alpine F1 Team), Lando Norris (McLaren Racing), and Carlos Sainz (Scuderia Ferrari).
• PGA TOUR Golfers: Rickie Fowler, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas.

In a clash of wheels and irons, four pairs consisting of one Formula 1® driver and one PGA TOUR professional will play an eight-hole match with the top two teams advancing to the final hole, where they will battle for the chance to win the inaugural Netflix Cup title.

The Netflix Cup is a first-of-its-kind live event that showcases two of Netflix’s sports programming breakouts. Formula 1: Drive to Survive is now in production on its sixth season as the fandom continues to popularize the sport in the US. Full Swing, one of 2023’s new series, is finishing filming on a second season and is credited with a rise in PGA TOUR fan engagement.

“We love to see how our sports series have brought increased fandom to sports leagues and competitions all over the world,” said Gabe Spitzer, Vice President, Nonfiction Sports, Netflix. “The Netflix Cup will take that energy to the next level with global stars from two popular hits competing in our first-ever live sports event.” 

“The continued success of Drive to Survive has played a significant role in the growth of Formula 1 in the US, which has ultimately led to the addition of a third American race,” said Emily Prazer, Chief Commercial Officer, Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc. “It’s only fitting that we kick off our inaugural race weekend with a fun event that can be streamed by F1 and PGA TOUR fans around the globe.”

“The PGA TOUR is proud to participate in this significant milestone for Netflix and we look forward to showcasing our sport’s professional athletes to a live global audience,” said Norb Gambuzza, PGA TOUR Senior Vice President, Media and Gaming. “New and diverse audiences have come to know more about both our sports and their athletes through Full Swing and Drive to Survive, and we are excited to team up with Netflix, Formula 1 and the Las Vegas Grand Prix on this exciting concept.”

“The Wynn Golf Club has hosted a number of unique matchups over the years and The Netflix Cup will be an incredible addition to the storied history of the course,” said Steve Weitman, President of Wynn Las Vegas. “This tournament will showcase a tremendous roster of talent, competing on the only golf course on the Las Vegas Strip, just steps away from the inaugural Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.” 

Netflix is the premier home for great sports stories with popular series such as Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Full Swing, Untold, Quarterback, Tour de France: Unchained, Break Point and upcoming series following athletes in track and field, soccer, rugby and NASCAR. 

The Netflix Cup, which is sanctioned by the PGA TOUR and Formula 1, will be produced by Excel Sports Management, BZ Entertainment, and Full Day Productions (Connor Schell and David Chamberlin), the company behind the ESPY Awards, the Oscars Red Carpet Show and the NFL Honors. 

[Note: The story is as per press release]

Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact

L'entrada Netflix to host contest involving F1 drivers & golfers in Las Vegas ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

Jaguar –

Between Kiwis Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy, they hold 15 wins, 37 podiums, 11 pole positions and 1,076 championship points in Formula E, in addition to a lifetime of shared experiences as the duo grew up together racing in New Zealand.

Jaguar TCS Racing start the new season as a strong contender, having completed the 2023 season with four wins, 11 podiums, three pole positions, and 292 points, improving on and surpassing the achievements gained in previous seasons of Formula E. The 2023 season was also the third year in succession that the British team fought for the team or drivers’ titles up to the last race of the season.

The formidable Jaguar I-TYPE 6 made up both the first and second position in the Teams’ World Championship, after customer team Envision Racing won the overall championship. It demonstrates the pace and competitiveness of the Jaguar I-TYPE 6 as, with Envision Racing, it won half the races in the championship (eight), secured 20 podiums, six pole positions and 596 Championship points. With this record of results, the Jaguar I-TYPE 6 has established itself as one the marque’s most successful cars in a long and illustrious linage of competition cars.

Jaguar TCS Racing and their drivers kick off the 2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship at official testing in Valencia next week. Returning for the rookie test session is South African Sheldon Van Der Linde. It marks the third time the 2022 DTM champion has driven in a rookie test for the team after delivering successful sessions earlier this year in Berlin and Rome.

The team also continue to be joined by their world-class portfolio of partners that support and contribute to the team’s mission and constant drive to innovate new technologies to drive performance, advance electric vehicle technologies ​and provide inspiration for the next generation. This includes title partner Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wolfspeed, Dow, Castrol, and OpenText. Official suppliers Alpinestars and AERO will also continue to support the team.

Formula E continues to be a real-world test bed for Jaguar TCS Racing, as the team innovates and develops new technologies, improving efficiency and ultimately performance in their aim for World Championship success. This cutting-edge development powers race-to-road learning for JLR to support future road car programmes. The innovation and technology transfer from the Jaguar I-TYPE 6 will support the reimagination of Jaguar as an all-electric, modern luxury brand from 2025.

Racing in the world’s first net zero carbon sport with the world’s first net zero carbon race car aligns to JLR’s commitment to have zero tailpipe emissions and to achieve carbon net zero across its supply chain, products and operations by 2039 as part of its Reimagine strategy.

Team boss James Barclay: “Everyone at Jaguar TCS Racing is hugely motivated, recharged and ready to be racing again in the 2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. Last season saw some incredibly competitive racing in the pinnacle of electric motorsport and we are all very proud of the car we produced and how we performed in what was our most successful season to date. As a team, we are always striving for the next step and we are incredibly motivated to once again fight for the World Championship in 2024.

“We have come incredibly close for the last three seasons and this consistency is testament to everyone in the organisation. With Nick joining the team alongside Mitch, I believe we have the driver line-up to help us with this objective. This tenth season of Formula E brings with it the addition of a new race in Tokyo, an iconic and important city that once again reinforces Formula E’s World Championship and pinnacle of electric racing status. We look forward to the new challenges it will bring and to seeing Japanese fans enjoying Formula E.”

Mitch Evans: “Last season the team and I experienced some amazing highs but also some lows together – which is common in motorsport. To achieve four wins was great and getting another top three finish in the drivers’ championship is something I’m proud of. 2023 was a good year, but obviously left us wanting more as a team. And that has ultimately spurred us on for the upcoming season and I am determined to fight for the World Championship again. I’ve come so close for a number of years now.”

Nick Cassidy: “Last season was my best performance in Formula E to date and it felt incredible to bring the fight for the World Championship down to the final weekend. Joining Jaguar TCS Racing is a really exciting move for me, and I am hungrier than ever. I can’t wait to see what Mitch, the team and I can achieve together when we hit the race track in January.”

Here’s a video: https://x.com/JaguarRacing/status/1714215296007811367?s=20

McLaren –

The NEOM McLaren Formula E Team today unveiled its livery for the 2023/24 season of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. The design is centred around the unique NEOM McLaren Electric Racing signature linework, while still being recognisably part of the McLaren Racing family.

Ian James, Managing Director, NEOM McLaren Electric Racing and Team Principal, NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, said: “As we prepare to go racing in our second season in Formula E, we are building on everything we learnt in Season 9. We are continually evolving as a team and this livery represents that. I can’t wait to see the car with this new livery on track at all the iconic locations we will be visiting in Season 10.”

The 2023/24 season will mark the team’s second season in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, after entering the championship for the first time last year. The team finished P8 overall, with highlights including a P3 finish in Diriyah and two pole positions.

The NEOM McLaren Formula E Team will be in action later this month when official testing begins (23 – 27 October 2023, in Valencia, Spain) ahead of the first round of Season 10 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, the Mexico City E-Prix, on 13 January 2024.

Here’s a video: https://x.com/McLarenFE/status/1714265717292351752?s=20

Here’s Formula E livery reveals –

DS Penske

[Note: The story is as per press release]

L'entrada Jaguar, McLaren unveil new Formula E challengers for 2024 ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

Having been away due to injury sustained during Dutch GP, AlphaTauri’s Ricciardo made his F1 return in a Red Bull showrun in Nashville on Saturday evening. The Australian is gearing up for his competitive return in next weekend’s US GP at Circuit of the Americas.

He has missed five races including Zandvoort. He started his simulator training ahead of Qatar but still chose to not compete which was a right call as per Red Bull chief Christian Horner considering how the F1 drivers suffered in the heat.

“I think we want to see him in full fitness”, said Horner. “I think it was right to miss this race, particularly as it turned out with the conditions that we had. Austin, obviously it’s going to be difficult for him to jump straight back into a sprint race weekend but I’m sure he’ll be physically in good shape to take that on.

“Of course, he was wanting to come back but he has a contract secured for next year and in Liam, we’ve got such a great sub. It was also a good way of giving him another grand prix without actually putting unnecessary pressure and potential longer-term damage on Dan to say, ‘Look, don’t overstretch it’.

“As it turned out, the conditions that we have here could have been very testing for him. To have had that extra 12 days in the run-up to Austin is the best preparation,” summed up Horner. The injury also cost him a Nordschleife showrun alongside Sebastian Vettel, as well where he was replaced by David Coulthard.

The Nashville ended up being a good training exercise for Ricciardo, who drove the Red Bull RB7 in the Music City, supported by former F1 driver Scott Speed in the Rallycross car and street freestyle motorcyclist Aaron Colton.

“Driving here in Nashville on Broadway was pretty wild,” said Ricciardo. “Broadway is normally wild in itself but especially today! There was a lot of ya’ll out here and it was cool to put on a show for everyone. It’s pretty much everything I love – honky tonks and live music.

“We had our own little Honky Tonk last night and there’s an abundance of things to do here seven days a week – I like that you can always find some fun here,” summed up Ricciardo, who was also gifted a a custom hand-painted guitar and cowboy boots painted by Igor Customs. The Australian also performed a karaoke on the eve of the showrun.

Here’s Christian Horner on Sergio Perez’s situation

Here’s Sergio Perez, Christian Horner on how Qatar panned out

Here’s FIA and drivers on extreme heat in Qatar GP

Here’s Max Verstappen on wanting to re-watch Qatar GP

Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact

L'entrada Ricciardo returns to F1 action in Nashville Red Bull roadshow ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

With a gap in the F2 calendar until the finale in Abu Dhabi, Ferrari arranged a special debut F1 test run for its academy driver Bearman at Fiorano on Wednesday. He completed over 400 kilometers in the SF51 machine using #50 on the car.

This was not only a reward for a good showing so far in his F1 campaign, but also a preparation towards his FP1 debut in Mexico with Haas along with Abu Dhabi as well. He had an immersing weekend with the American F1 outfit in Qatar.

He had his seat fitting and also spent time understanding the know hows of a F1 team. The purpose of the Ferrari test was also for Bearman to secure the FP1 superlicense as the Brit was certainly and naturally elated with his run with the Italian manufacturer.

“If you think I wasn’t excited, you’d be mistaken,” said Bearman. “I can’t deny that last night I struggled to get to sleep. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this day, with my parents on hand and I’m told my mother got quite excited when I drove out of the garage in the Ferrari.

“The engineers guided me step by step for the first few laps, then as I gained confidence in the car I started to really enjoy it. I was prepared for the enormous amount of power on hand, as I had already driven a Formula 1 car on the simulator. But what really surprised me was the level of grip, which is harder to feel sitting in the sim and it’s crazy when compared to the amount you have with the Formula 2 car I’m racing at the moment.

“The other surprising thing is the level of downforce on these cars, it’s just incredible. Thank you to the Scuderia for making me feel part of the group right away and everyone at Ferrari who made this unforgettable day possible,” summed up Bearman.

Here’s a small video: https://x.com/insideFDA/status/1712030975159329033?s=20

Here’s a selection of photos:

Here’s Ferrari on Qatar happenings

Here’s FIA and drivers on extreme heat in Qatar GP

Here’s news on Oliver Bearman and FP1 test

L'entrada Bearman makes his F1 debut with Ferrari at Fiorano ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

DS PENSKE is excited to unveil the Team’s new racing car livery for the Season 10 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. This season, the DS PENSKE livery takes a dramatic and eye catching step forward, reversing the chrome and black from last year to give the Team’s Gen 3 car even more on-track presence.

This is combined with an aggressive new vector shape on the sidepod encompassing the team partner DS Automobiles and driving the car forward from all angles, even when stationary. Sean Bull, DS PENSKE head of Design, comments ‘With it being a clear and dramatic evolution on last year’s design we wanted to make the lines of the car fit even better with the exciting shapes of the Gen 3 car.

Extremely proud of this design and the combination of working closely with team and DS Automobiles we believe we have improved upon perfection.  Jean-Éric Vergne, two-time Formula E Champion, and Stoffel Vandoorne, 2022 Formula E World Champion will take the first laps in the new design  at the traditional pre-season testing days at the Circuit Ricardo Tomo, in Valencia, Spain, from October 24 to 27^th, 2023.

Jay Penske – Owner & Team Principal: “The new livery launch kicks off the start of the season and ignites everyone’s passion and desire to go out and give 110%. I think this design, like the team is a great example of how we never stop moving forward, we never settle. It would be easy to run the same livery as we did in Season 9, but that’s not our approach and never has been. The livery like the team gets better every year. I’m looking forward to a very solid, productive and competitive pre-season testing in Valencia followed by a run at the championship starting in Mexico City.”

Jean-Éric Vergne – Formula E Champion in 2018 and 2019: “Unveiling the new look of the car is always an exciting time of year for the team and I share everyone’s enthousiasm. This livery is undoubtedly more modern, more golden. Most importantly It is a checkpoint in the pre-season calendar, we are two weeks away from the official test days in Valencia, the whole team has been preparing very hard for this event and I can’t just wait to get started!”

 Stoffel Vandoorne – 2022 Formula E World Champion: “I like this new livery, it looks fast and aggressive ! We head into a new season and our ultimate goal is to deliver strong performances and return to points-paying finishes. Racing at the front requires resilience, hard work and determination, I will leave no stone unturned in the chase for every millisecond and get our black and gold car back in front!”

Here’s the video: https://x.com/ds_penske_fe/status/1711306897993908663?s=20

[Note: The story is as per press release]

L'entrada DS Penske showcases tweaked Formula E livery for 2024 ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

After years of planning and subsequent execution, McLaren has its own wind tunnel up and running at its technology center thereby moving away from Toyota’s Cologne facility. This comes at a time when there is reports of some linkage with the Japanese manufacturer.

McLaren recently took up Toyota’s WEC driver Ryo Hirakawa as one of its reserve drivers and plan to give him F1 test runs. With the Cologne facility starting to become obsolete due to current standards, the British team wanted to move and create its own system.

It hasn’t been easy coming but the wind tunnel is now live after all their correlation work undertaken in the past few months to make sure it is on the right course. In fact, McLaren has also noted the FIA about their move to their own facility ahead of 2024 season.

The wind tunnel is part of their expansion project after McLaren brought about their next-generation simulator along with upgrades to machine shop, creating its own composites facility and more. The F1 team is readying itself for the larger goals ahead.

“Once the project had been approved, we carried out our design process simultaneously with the demolition of the existing wind tunnel,” Hannah Allan, Engineering Project Manager said. “Demolition involved breaking down the old steelwork into much smaller pieces so that it would fit through the doors and out of the building.

“Looking at the empty space where the old test section once stood, we thought ‘there is no going back now. We’ve received support from so many areas of the business throughout this project. From R&D, Aerodynamics and Software through to Procurement, Finance and the Exec team, it has been a real company-wide effort to deliver this programme.”

To cut costs and decrease wastage, McLaren has retained good chunk of the old facility. They didn’t wish to completely destroy and re-built but rather re-use what can be. The team has also switched to 60% scale model operation from the 50% that they used to.

“It was an enormous project and the biggest investment in Racing since the construction of the MTC,” said Christian Schramm, Director of R&D and Technology. “It was an amazing team effort. There were a lot of sacrifices, extra hours, and extra shifts worked, both during the week and on weekends. This was a complex project, but the team’s hard work ensured we were successful.

“Due to the space restrictions, the tunnel is as high and as wide as it can possibly be. That meant that our designs had to be very specific, which is more time-consuming. For example, the rolling road within the test section is as wide as the door it was delivered through – that was one of our considerations.”

There is still time for the new wind tunnel to see its effect on the McLaren F1 cars. Whatever updates that the current car has seen or will see in the remainder of the year comes off from the work done on the old facility.

But going forward into 2024, the work undertaken in the new facility will see its results on track which McLaren naturally hopes will be the one which pushes the F1 team into world championship picture in the coming years.

Here’s a video: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx5LerwoXgc/?hl=en

Here’s Oscar Piastri on wanting to improve its tyre management

Here’s Lando Norris on Sergio Perez holding him up

Here’s Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri about start

L'entrada McLaren new wind tunnel facility is live as it moves out of Cologne ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

Ahead of the F1 Japanese GP weekend, Mercedes’ Hamilton and Alpine’s Ocon surprised fans with a little RC Cars competition in the pitlane on Thursday. The duo had planned to do so a while ago and finally executed the same in Suzuka.

Both Hamilton and Ocon are fans of RC Cars action where the latter does more of it during his off time than the former. They wish to do it more often against each other and they could possibly do so in Austin during the US GP weekend.

Here’s what they said about their Suzuka run –

Hamilton: “Yeah, so Esteban and I had planned while ago, that while we’re here, we’ll get our remote control cars together and have a bit of a race in the pit lane. For me, it was very reminiscent of when I was a kid on Blue Peter, and it was really cool, because we all share, more in common than we probably think, other than the fact that we’re pure racers. But it’s very rare that we all get to do things like that, so it was it was fun. They were run on petrol but I thought they were going to be electric. That’s what our race when I was a kid. I raced electric and petrol and it was Kyosho. It’s basically an evolution of the car that you’ll see, like Senna had and I had the same car as Senna when I was younger. And he’s mega at it.”

Ocon: “It was just a bit of fun.”

Hamilton: “We were all spinning around – but I wasn’t far off your pace!”

Ocon: “I was super-impressed, because he hasn’t done it for years. And he was like: ‘yeah, start slow,” and all that. Because I practice a lot, like I’m constantly on it, and straight away, like first braking points, he nails it. So, you know, that’s more than impressive.”

Hamilton: “I flipped it a lot of times! But I think I had a softer set-up.”

Ocon: “Yeah, he had a softer set-up.”

Here’s some videos:

https://x.com/OconEsteban/status/1704801871670464611?s=20

https://x.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/1704861757347446862?s=20

Here’s Mercedes crediting Frederik Vesti

Here’s Mercedes camp on team orders, strategy

Here’s Alpine pair on team orders in Suzuka

L'entrada Hamilton, Ocon wish to engage in more RC Cars competitions ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

The Lusail International Circuit has been under going renovations and facility upliftment in the past year to be ready for this year’s F1 Qatar GP. Those are now complete with Swiss company Geobrugg undertaking the work at various parts of the huge facility.

A new grandstand has been erected at Turn 2 along with a hub of fun at the Fan Zone over the 2.5 kilometers of debris fence. It improves view without compromising safety with additional big screens installed at various points for better vieweing.

Mobile debries fences has been erected at Turn 2 and Turn 10 to create shortcuts with marshal post safety enhanced too. Digital flag panels have been installed along with advanced lighting system for better visibility for the F1 drivers.

The work was done under the supervision of both the FIA and FIM as the Lusail circuit hosts both F1 and MotoGP championships. ‘We are expecting large number of fans to attend Qatar GP, that said spectator safety is of paramount importance to us. We have ensured to incorporate highest levels of safety measures on the track,” said Amro Al Hamad, CEO of Lusail International Circuit and Executive Director of Qatar Motor & Motorcycle Federation.

At the same time Jochen Braunwarth, Director Motorsport Solutions, Geobrugg added: “We’re incredibly proud to add the Lusail International Circuit to the growing list of Grand Prix venues that are adopting our debris fence solutions. As a venue, Lusail is going from strength to strength, adding a combination of car and bike racing to its portfolio, so it was vital the circuit had the best fencing safety.”

Here’s a view of it: https://x.com/lusailcircuit/status/1707366749652349407?s=20

Here’s Rodin explaining about being turned down a F1 spot

L'entrada Lusail circuit completes renovations ahead of F1 Qatar GP ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

After the recent highs for Williams, the F1 Japanese GP proved to be one of their big lows of 2023 where neither Alexander Albon nor Logan Sargeant saw the chequered flag and both had a clash with Alfa Romeo’s Bottas interestingly.

The first one was for Albon who was on the outside going into Turn 1 at the start with Bottas on his right in a sandwich where Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was on the Finn’s right. The Alfa Romeo driver suffered a puncture while the Thai racer had major damage too.

The loss of downforce left Williams with no choice but to retire Albon. It wasn’t long for his teammate Sargeant to join the retirement list along with Bottas. Post the safety car re-start, the Finn tried a move on the American in the left-hander.

But Sargeant locked-up and the two made contact where Bottas was spun around. The two suffered damage enough to retire as the American was handed a time penalty for causing a collision which added to his misery after the heavy incident in qualifying.

Sargeant: “For my side on the incident, I locked the second I touched the brakes, I’m not sure – he must not have seen that, I was never going to make the corner. I was surprised he didn’t just cut underneath me. Yeah, it was just front locking from the second I hit the brake. It’s my fault but Bottas must not have seen that I locked up before making the move. It was a hectic first few laps for sure.”

Bottas: “I actually had a great start right off the line, but then I found myself caught between two cars, a Williams and an Alpine, going into Turn 1. There wasn’t enough space, and that resulted in a collision which caused a puncture on my front right tyre. We immediately pitted and I went for a nose change as well; then, just after the end of the Safety Car, I tried to overtake Sargeant from the outside, and made sure to leave enough space – unfortunately, he locked up and ended up taking me out. The car was undriveable. It must have had some damage in the suspension. We also had a hole on the sidepod, so it was not really driveable.”

Albon: “No car is strong enough to survive those kinds of crashes. A bad start kind of triggered it, so we need to work on that, but then we were in the wrong position at the wrong time and I got squeezed. I had damage from Lap 1 and it was pretty much game over so it’s a shame. We tried to carry on and see if the race would unfold and there were a lot of retirees, so we tried to stay out and see what would happen but, yeah, we were quite down on downforce. When I see Checo DNF and seeing maybe, you know, a possible chance to try and stay ahead of one of the Alpines, yeah points were possible.”

Here’s what happened at the start: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2023-japanese-grand-prix-verstappen-fends-off-both-mclarens-to-keep-the-lead-on-the-race-start.1777894815387565119.html

Here’s onboard of Logan Sargeant and Valtteri Bottas’ incident: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2023-japanese-grand-prix-best-race-start-onboards.1778021978780654915.html

L'entrada Williams pair caught up in Japanese GP mess with Bottas ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

Away from the leading pack and team orders at McLaren and Mercedes, there was things brewing at Alpine too in F1 Japanese GP which wasn’t aired on the world feed. Ocon had a bad start when he was involved in an incident in the run-up to Turn 1.

On the inside, Ocon was too close to Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas as they both touched where the Finn also made contact with Williams’ Alexander Albon on the outside. The Frenchman was forced to pit which hampered his grand prix early.

He was on a different strategy immediately to teammate Gasly, but both did come together eventually. Both of Ocon’s stops were completed early by Alpine considering his Lap 1 troubles which meant his teammate was behind after his stop was done later.

But being on a fresher compound, Gasly already had advantage over Ocon. Despite that, Alpine asked Ocon to not fight Gasly and let him through to catch Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. They promised Ocon that Gasly will let him through if doesn’t catches Alonso.

This baffled Gasly as he felt that being on a fresh set of tyres, he didn’t need team orders to be allowed ahead in the first place. And so giving back the position seemed not right to him which led to some late back and forth on the radio for both drivers.

Gasly eventually slowed down and gave up ninth to Ocon but his onboard showed clear displeasure over the situation which continued on until parc ferme and even in the media pen. He felt undone by the situation as there was no need for such dramas.

Ocon, meanwhile, was calm about the situation as he managed to recover to ninth despite his Lap 1 troubles. Alpine chief Bruno Famin played down the issues but agreed on the communication part that maybe they didn’t convey things properly.

Gasly: “It was that Esteban, if they would decide to undercut me with the strategy, to favour him, they would obviously undercut me who was the leading car, and they will let me past so we don’t lose time. But it was never said that we will need to invert again the position because I started ahead and I was always in front. As a team, being tenth or ninth, ninth or tenth, it’s the same. But it was definitely not something I expected and not something I really understand as well as I was the leading car, but we will talk.

“It wasn’t discussed before the race. It was clear that with the strategy they had planned at some point Esteban would undercut me. But my race was faster, and I will have to pass him back. I would have overtook him anyway on the race track because I had fresher tyres and this was part of the strategy, it was telling us before the race. Until then, it was all similar, it’s just the last lap. But it’s something we’ll talk together, we’ll explain and I’m sure next time the other way around Esteban will play it fair.

“I’m behind the wheel and my job is to go as fast as possible. I’m giving everything I can. Why give up a position, for what reason. I put the team in front of myself and that’s what I will do anyway. I think we did a good strategy as a team we did the best job we could with both cars. I don’t understand the team’s decision, but I respected it and let Esteban pass, but in the end it’s three points for the team and that’s what we will have to look at.”

Ocon: “I’ve been with this team since four years and the rule has always been the same. If you swap the position initially, which I did to Pierre I gave him the position, if you don’t get the car in front then you always switch back before the end. It was the same with Daniel, it was the same with Fernando. We were doing that, if it’s me, if it’s him, if it’s the other way around I will do the same. I always prefer to fight on track which is more a bit of an old school way but I understand the team’s point of view, which is to try and get some more points. I think today we maximised what was on the table and we can be proud of ourselves [for] good teamwork.”

Famin (via Motorsport Network): “We don’t have any problem between the drivers. I think it’s that they are all fighting for having their own best results, which is normal and what they are paid for. But they are also paid for having the best team results. Of course, with the stress of the race, we may have some declarations that are a bit strong, but I have absolutely no doubt about the drivers being on the same line together. For having the best team result, we left Pierre in front of Esteban to have the possibility, even if it was small, of trying to catch Fernando. This was not possible, so to swap back is very normal.

“This is the point we need to check to be totally transparent. I don’t know when it has been said, and that is the point we need to clarify. Sometimes we have communication problems because the line is not so good. Or sometimes the engineer thinks they are clear when they say something, but maybe sometimes the driver doesn’t record it because he is focused on something else.  We need to check whether the driver received well the information. But anyway, the manoeuvre was done in the interests of the team, and I have absolutely no doubt that both drivers agree with that.

“If we have to do it a bit differently the other way [around] during the coming races, they will do it. They know that, and there is no tension. It is just execution of the race. Regarding Pierre’s reactions, no more than the other guys. They are fighters, just right after the race, they are disappointed, it’s normal. We can talk for hours about the way he did it. But I’m just convinced it’s an epiphenomenon.”

Here’s what happened at the start: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2023-japanese-grand-prix-verstappen-fends-off-both-mclarens-to-keep-the-lead-on-the-race-start.1777894815387565119.html

Here’s how F1 Japanese GP panned out

L'entrada Alpine plays down late Gasly/Ocon team orders in Japanese GP ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

For once it seemed like McLaren may try an aggressive strategy of starting one car on the soft compound but they went for the conservative idea where both started the F1 Japanese GP on the medium compound like Red Bull’s Verstappen.

But even on the medium tyre, both Norris and Piastri had a good launch off the line. Verstappen tried to cover off the Australian by going slightly on the right which allowed the Brit to get a clear space and attack around the outside of the Dutchman.

He got the car placed well too but Verstappen soon covered it off and assumed the lead which he never left apart from the pit stop. In a grand prix where he finished 19s ahead of the second placed driver, the start was the only point of contention for the Dutchamn.

“I think it was a good race,” said Verstappen. “Of course, the start was a bit tight in the first two corners. I saw on the right mirror that of course Oscar had a little bit of a jump on me but at the same time I saw in my left mirror that Lando had a real jump on me and then I tried to, of course, close off Oscar but then, I mean, he was still there and I saw on the left-side Lando coming with a lot more speed.

“He then moved a bit to the right and I was, like, I can’t go more to the right! So I was, like, trying to get straight and yeah, luckily of course, nothing happened. It all got quite close but that’s racing. That’s how it goes at the start, and then, of course, we had a good battle also into Turn 1, into Turn 2.

“I was lucky, I think, that there was a bit more grip, I think, there was a bit more grip in Turn 2, just on the normal line, instead of trying to go around the outside. After that, yeah, the car was very nice to drive again. I could really look after the tyres well, the degradation was quite in control.

“Of course, I knew that our strategy was going to be a little bit different with the Medium tyres, compared to two times Hard for some others but it was still OK, I think. The balance was still quite OK, traction and stuff for the whole stint. So, yeah, honestly, like no real issues throughout the race, and I think that just sums up the weekend as well. It’s been an incredible weekend to drive the car,” summed up Verstappen.

For Norris, he was content eventually as was Piastri where they at least got to try and hustle Verstappen a bit, even though they knew the end result. “Things went, maybe not always to plan, but the pace was extremely strong,” said the Brit. “Couldn’t challenge Max. Maybe for half a car I actually got into lead for maybe half a second so I’ll take that.

“But, yeah, in a way, it feels better, because the pace was stronger. I could push and we were where we deserve to be, so a good job by the whole team to execute a perfect race,” summed up Norris, as Piastri brought back the qualifying joke of maybe emulating the Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost collision moment at Turn 1.

“Looking back on it now I was in the perfect position to emulate Senna and Prost, like, literally perfect,” Piastri joked. “It’s true. But no, I saw I got a good launch, got a bit too excited on the throttle pedal in the second part of the start and at that point I knew I wasn’t far enough alongside Max. I could see Lando was coming around the outside. So yeah, I think settling for third was definitely the safest… and just the safest option at that point.”

Here’s what happened at the start: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2023-japanese-grand-prix-verstappen-fends-off-both-mclarens-to-keep-the-lead-on-the-race-start.1777894815387565119.html

Here’s Sergio Perez collecting four penalty points

Here’s how F1 Japanese GP panned out

L'entrada Verstappen reflects on tight start against Norris, Piastri at Suzuka ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

Things are going from bad to worse for Red Bull’s Perez and it was like that in F1 Japanese GP at Suzuka in a race where the team sealed the 2023 constructors’ championship and the Mexican was forced to retire after multiple collisions.

It all went wrong at the start when Perez was sandwiched with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton on the left and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on his right. He was forced to pit under the safety car to change the front wing which set him at the back of the field.

It seemed like it will be a recovery drive for Perez but he was handed a 5s time penalty for safety car infringement which was later cleared that while on the way into the pits, he passed Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso which is not allowed.

“The Stewards reviewed timing and video evidence,” the stewards note said. “PER overtook ALO just before entering the pit lane under safety car conditions.” To go with the time penalty, he got two penalty points on his superlicense too.

In a hurry to get back in the Top 10, Perez then made an optimistic move on Haas’ Kevin Magnussen at the left-hander and he tapped the side of the Dane to spin him around. The Mexican suffered another front wing damage as he was eventually called in to retire.

“PER was trying to overtake MAG on the inside of turn 11,” the stewards note said. “The Stewards determine that PER was predominately to blame for the collision. Applying the 2023 Driving Standards Guidelines for overtaking at the inside of a corner, the Stewards noted that there was no significant portion of car 11 alongside car 20 and therefore determined that car 11 was not entitled to racing room in turn 11.

“PER did not manage to do the overtaking manoeuvre in a safe and controlled manner.” A further 5s time penalty and two penalty points took his race’s tally to four and overall tally to now seven from the 12 that is given to any driver in a year.

On October 2, two points will cut away to bring it back to five. Since he retired from the race just when the penalty was announced, there was a chance for it to be converted to a grid drop in Qatar and to avoid that, Red Bull repaired the car and sent him back.

He eventually returned to serve the penalty and retired again. “I had a horrible start and basically going into Turn 1, I was just a passenger,” said Perez to media. I had Sainz on my right, Lewis on the left, and they just took the whole front wing endplate off.

“We changed the front wing and I still had no front end, so I think there were a lot more things damaged on the car. I was struggling quite a lot on the braking with the front end. I just wouldn’t stop in time and it was my mistake, obviously.”

The extent of the damage is unknown with the team undergoing analysis, as Horner noted of the known broken front wings while adding a possible damage to wheel hub from the start contact. “It got off to a bad start,” he said. “He got sort of pinballed on the way down to Turn 1, that was unlucky for him.

“He then had damage with Lewis and broke the front wing. He then passed Fernando on the way in under the safety car, picked up another penalty. He goes out a little bit too optimistic, probably out of frustration trying to pass Magnussen…another front wing and the steering damage.

“So, the only decent thing we managed to get out of today was not carrying a penalty through into the next race in Qatar. In terms of damages, he had already done one front wing and the wheel hub. I haven’t seen the complete damage report but it is possible that there could have been other damage.”

While Perez admitted to his mistake down to a broken car, Magnussen concurred with Horner in noting about frustration and desperation for their contact. “I got hit on the rear tyre, it was a pretty desperate move, but it is what it is,” he said.

“I got spun around, and then we had to pit – that was too early for the two-stop strategy with the tire degradation that we have on our car. It made the situation a lot worse by pitting at that point and I didn’t want to do a three-stop, so it really ended our race.”

Here’s the crash between Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2023-japanese-grand-prix-perez-tips-magnussen-into-a-spin-after-lunge-at-turn-11.1777897881937636664.html

Here’s what happened at the start: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2023-japanese-grand-prix-verstappen-fends-off-both-mclarens-to-keep-the-lead-on-the-race-start.1777894815387565119.html

Here’s how F1 Japanese GP panned out

L'entrada Perez picks up for penalty points in Japanese GP disaster ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

Following his Red Bull return at Nordschleife, Vettel revealed during that event that he will be travelling to Suzuka for the Japanese GP weekend. But his purpose of visit was not to be related to any racing programme or any racing related activity.

He noted it to be creating a bee hotel at Turn 2 named as ‘Buzzin Corner’. The circuit painted the kerbs in black and yellow as the current F1 grid took out time to be present in numbers. In fact, all of the 20 drivers were present at 16:00 local time.

Several of the F1 team bosses were present too along with Stefano Domenicali as reserve drivers like Mick Schumacher and Robert Shwartzman took time out as well. All 10 teams erected their own bee hotels and painted them with Vettel helping them out.

Speaking about Vettel and his project, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton felt pretty good of the work the German is doing. “It’s great, firstly, to have Seb back this weekend,” he said. “He sat down and told all the drivers of his plans. It was great to see that he’s found his purpose and – to be honest – in the history of the sport, I don’t know any other driver that’s ever had… or who’s ever been so outspoken and showing real compassion for the world outside of this little world that we’re living in and it’s really great that he’s utilising his platform.

“I always just hope that with the things that he’s doing, for example, that he inspires the other drivers to do something along, maybe, in their own lane. But we all need to come together in this world to have a positive impact, to spread love, to spread compassion, to raise awareness for a lot of the problems that are.. and there’s obviously millions of problems that we need to address, but biodiversity for sure, is… when he’s working with the bees here, raising awareness this weekend I think is a great, great way… just sparks a bit of interest and raise awareness for people to understand exactly what and how important they are in terms of our ecosystem.”

Some videos:

https://x.com/McLarenF1/status/1704797524102361408?s=20

https://x.com/HaasF1Team/status/1704773307424235795?s=20

Here’s Japanese GP details

L'entrada Vettel undertakes Suzuka special project with F1 community’s help ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

It wasn’t the best of the days for Red Bull’s Perez in F1 Singapore GP on Sunday after a bad Saturday. Having started out in 13th on the hard compound, the Mexican readily had an incident with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda while tussling for places.

At first it looked like Tsunoda suffered a puncture when Perez collided with the Japanese driver while the Mexican was on the inside in the right-hander. But post-race, it was clear that the sidepod had a hole after the hit and there was no way he could continue.

Perez also had some front wing damage but there was no investigation by the stewards. “I was on the blind spot of Yuki,” he said to the media. “Unfortunately, I don’t think he saw me. And yeah, that just made things very tricky for us. I had a bit of damage on my front wing, front endplate. Yeah, it was just a complete disaster, my race.”

There didn’t seem to be a push from AlphaTauri either as Tsunoda mostly talked about the car damage rather than the move. “I had a good start and it is a shame how it ended up, it’s frustrating,” he said. “The sidepods are completely gone after the contact.

“There was a loss of aero and loss of grip on the [right] hand-side [meant I had to retire]. At least the car pace was good [throughout practice]. I feel bad and sorry for the team because I couldn’t extract performance, but I’ll just have to bounce back strongly in Suzuka.”

Post the Lap 1 dramas, Perez had a moment against Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton where he was frustrated that the Brit pushed him off but the place wasn’t given back. “To me it was clear that Lewis just broke really late and went off the circuit and gained an advantage,” he said. “That something that we got to understand going forward.”

But his frustration didn’t end there as there was a late contact between him and Williams’ Albon which wasn’t showed on world feed until after the grand prix. The irritation was more on the Thai’s side as not only lost the place but it cost him handy points.

Perez went for an inside move at the left-hander where Albon had already turned in while chasing AlphaTauri’s Liam Lawson. They made contact which dropped the Thai outside the Top 10 and he had to climb back up to 11th while the Mexican was handed a penalty.

But the post-race penalty didn’t mean much since Perez retained eighth after the gap he was able to build over Lawson. From the Mexican’s side, he felt it was more of a racing incident which came after Albon passed him while exiting the pitlane under VSC which was also investigated but the system did not note the positioning well.

“It’s a… we went and had a look and it should be just a racing incident,” he said. “Also with the Virtual Safety Car, I was ahead of him and Alex overtook me under the Virtual Safety Car, but the system is not good enough so they couldn’t tell at the time that I was ahead. It’s how things are.”

Albon, meanwhile, was livid on the radio.  “He’s just so f****** dirty,” he said. “He tried to do that move to me two or three times before and I had to miss him. I had to pull out last time to stop him from hitting me. So sorry, but I can’t do that every single time he tries to take a lunge and take avoiding action.

“I thought he would have this one under control but he didn’t,” summed up Albon, who later on blamed Perez for the loss of points results.  “We did the race perfectly,” he said. “I was running P9, was about to overtake Liam for P8, then I got dive-bombed by Checo into Turn 13. He T-boned me and I went straight on into the wall, I had to reverse out, I dropped to 13th and I finished 11th so we should have scored points today and we didn’t.”

Here’s onboard of Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda’s clash: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2023-singaporean-grand-prix-best-race-start-onboards.1777388701653847993.html

Here’s collision between Sergio Perez and Alexander Albon: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2023-singapore-grand-prix-perez-and-albon-collide-on-lap-58.1777393550138091694.html

Here’s Max Verstappen on safety car destroying his race

Here’s FIA warning Helmut Marko in Sergio Perez’s case

Here’s Sergio Perez’s response

L'entrada Perez reflects on incidents with Tsunoda, Hamilton and Albon ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

All weekend long in F1 Singapore GP, Mercedes’ Russell did look to have strong pace and one with a good chance of a podium finish and even a win if Red Bull did not have a chance. That is what happened with the Brit in contention for victory.

Mercedes always had the strategy game in their hand with two new sets of tyres available but Ferrari and Carlos Sainz never allowed for a gap to be created for them to exercise it unless a late Virtual Safety Car period which came to their rescue.

It was a tall order still where both Russell and Lewis Hamilton had more than 10 seconds to cut which they did with 4-5 laps to spare to get on the tail of Sainz and McLaren’s Lando Norris. Both Russell and Hamilton hustled the Brit strongly in the end.

But the last lap proved to be costly for Russell at Turn 6-7 when he brushed the wall which ended his certain third place finish. In fact, Norris brushed it just in front of him and escaped any major fallout but it wasn’t the case with the Mercedes driver.

Russell was naturally disappointed with the end despite the pace. He admitted to lack of concentration and maybe frustration of not being able to get by Norris after a tactical game played by Sainz ahead. It was a pathetic mistake as the Brit described.

It was a hard pill to swallow for Russell to end with nothing but team boss Wolff was all praise for the fight put up by the Brit. There was disappointment, but the Austrian didn’t blame him for trying to hustle both Sainz and Norris ahead.

Competitive but strange race and lack of concentration in the end –

Russell: “It was a very strange race with Carlos managing the pace for the whole duration. It was quite hard to keep the concentration as we were driving on and half seconds off the pace. It was only natural for him to do that with, let’s say, the tyre advantage we had. If he went any faster it would have given us the opportunity. We obviously got fortunate with the safety car and that was when the race really turned on its head and got rally exciting. I was really pushing flat out but again Carlos did a great job just to manage the gap with the DRS with Lando, it was very smart of him to do that.

“I had half a chance with Lando and half a car’s length different and I think we would have won the race because I would have got ahead of Lando and Carlos would have been stuck with no DRS and we would have flew by him. Instead, we ended the race in the wall and I have no idea what happened or how it happened. It was probably a lack of concentration, maybe frustration knowing that was the last lap and the opportunity was gone. A one centimetre mistake has clouded the whole weekend.”

Emotions at the time –

Russell: “It is probably an hour ago since it has happened and in the moment you just want to curl up in a ball and be with nobody. It is the most horrendous feeling in the world when you are so physically drained, mentally drained. We missed out on an opportunity for victory and then to make such a mistake it is truly heartbreaking, but I have to be honest now and I’m standing here an hour later and it has been such am amazing weekend. I truly believe that I’m driving better than I have ever driven. Qualifying was amazing and the race was great. I felt confident and comfortable and I’m not going to let a mistake of two centimetres knock me down, so I will have a tough night and a tough morning, but I will then just put it behind me and go again. I can only apologise to the team because they deserved more, but yeah shit happens.”

Forgiving yourself –

Russell: “I’m not just going to brush it off, for sure I’m not. It was such a nothing of a mistake. If I spun off and had a lock up and steered in the wall, it would have been very different but I clipped the wall on the last lap. It is such a pathetic mistake and that is why it feels so strange right now. It is probably that lack of concentration as I said it was the last lap and I knew that opportunity was gone. It goes to show that you need to stay on it. It doesn’t matter what the scenario is. There are a lot of positives.”

Lando Norris brush –

Russell: “It is incredible how the mind thinks because I saw Lando brush the wall and in that split second I thought “Oh he has just hit the wall” and two tenths of a second later I hit the wall. It definitely wasn’t because of Lando’s brush with the wall that caught me off. You often to tend to follow…. I don’t know it is very difficult. I was knackered at the end of the race. I put everything on the line there, I was driving so hard and it was difficult because I wanted to manage my tyres to make sure they are the best possible tyres at the end of the race.

“That is why I kept asking my team to tell me the lap time that is going to get me to the front by the end of the race. I didn’t want to push half a second faster and have no tyres left at the end, but on the flip side I had Lewis behind me pushing everything, so there were a few things to counterbalance. As I said, I felt confident and good. Carlos placed it strategically perfectly and Lando also did a great job. It could have been such a different result for such a small, change with that overtake on Lando but it wasn’t meant to be.”

Feel for Russell –

Wolff: “I’m sad for George because he delivered a 99.9% fantastic weekend and a split second lack of concentration clipped the wall and it happened, but what I said to him is I’d rather have this happening now and the learning is there than when we race for a victory or for a championship, that’s going to be engraved in him, this mistake. On the positive, Lewis had a difficult day and he rebounded, he had lots of pace at the end, a deserved podium and so it’s bittersweet but overall I’m happy about the performance, I’m happy about how the car was all weekend, and I think we gave it our best shot.”

Tackling mistake from Russell, his mood –

Wolff: “We must not forget it’s his second year in a competitive car and he was really giving it all he had, he was pushing hard in order to win the race. At that stage the only way of overtaking Norris and maybe Sainz was to just not leave a milimetre on track. Lando kissed the wall and he was behind him when he hit harder, so that cost him the race but if you push like this things can happen. George is of course and out and out racer and is devastated but what I said to him was we played for third place and not a win, but it is a steep learning curve and with such situations, a second year at Mercedes, it is not going to happen again when it is for a victory or a championship. But obviously he is very upset.”

Here’s how the battle panned out: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2023-singapore-grand-prix-the-frantic-final-laps-as-sainz-battles-to-hold-off-norris-russell-and-hamilton.1777300254289144255.html

Here’s Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris working together to beat Mercedes

Here’s how F1 Singapore GP panned out

L'entrada Russell admits lack of concentration in pathetic race-ending crash ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

Having controlled the F1 Singapore GP for much part of the day, Ferrari’s Sainz came under pressure towards the end of the race when both the Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton pitted for fresh rubber where they had about 15s to cover.

On the medium compound, both Russell and Hamilton quickly managed to get on the tail of Sainz and McLaren’s Norris with few laps to spare. It was then the Spaniard went with his instinct and used his former teammate in order to keep the Mercedes pair behind.

Sainz purposely pushed Norris into Russell while giving DRS which negated the pace of Russell and forced him to push harder to pass the McLaren driver. The Spaniard agreed it was a risky strategy, but that is what he had considering the pace of Mercedes.

That strategy eventually worked when Russell made a mistake on the final lap and that sealed the win for Sainz. The Spaniard’s tactics was somewhat understood by Norris too, who was happy with the DRS in order to keep the Mercedes behind.

At one point he almost lost the place but post that main attack, Russell couldn’t attack him. While the Mercedes driver crashed out, Norris also touched the wall just before him but his scare was short-lived as he did not hit that hard as Russell did.

Mercedes pit stop and concern –

Sainz: “At the beginning, not so nervous because I felt like I had a lot of pace in hand to push the last 12-15 laps. But immediately, I felt like as soon as I started pushing, my tyre degradation started to kick in. And I think Lando and I were sliding a lot, then it surprised me quite a lot how quickly the Mercs managed to pass Charles and close the gap on Lando and me. And at that point, I thought okay, it’s not going to be easy and these last five, six laps is going to be a fight. And at that point, obviously I had to change a bit the strategy. I had to give Lando a bit of a cheeky DRS boost, and that helped us to keep them behind and win the race and get the get the win for Ferrari that feels great.”

Playing tactful game using Lando Norris and the risk –

Sainz: “It’s always tricky. Because you always put yourself under extra pressure, no? Because then you know that then you cannot have a lock-up. You cannot have a single mistake or a snap because it means that then Lando’s going to have a chance to overtake you if he’s on DRS. So yeah, at that point you decide to give him the DRS, hoping that that’s going to be enough to keep the Mercs behind. There was in particularly one lap that I think Lando defended into 16-17, and then I had to slow down a lot into T1-2-3 to give him DRS again. I think that move actually, saved my race, saved also Lando’s P2 because I feel like there, if not, I would have been also dead meat, if the Mercs would have passed Lando, I think they could have got passed me pretty easily.

“This is a sort of strategy that you always keep in the back of your head in tracks like Singapore, where it might come in useful at some point. The thing is, obviously, it’s easy to think about it, at least, it’s easy to have in mind, but it’s a lot more difficult to execute it because it does put you under some extra pressure and it comes with its risks. And it’s all about having that commitment to do it and to put yourself under that extra risk. But I felt like that was my only real chance of winning the race and I wanted to win, especially when I heard that 1.3s/ 1.4s gap up to Lando after he defended into 16, to take the decision to slow down in Turn One and Turn Three. I was like ‘well, I hope these works’ because if not it could look really, really bad on me, but it worked. Some days you need to trust your instincts, trust your feeling. I’ve been trusting that, these last two weekends and it’s working well.”

Trust on each other –

Sainz: “It always feels a bit better when you have someone that you get on well with and that you respect, both as a driver and as an athlete.  As a person, it always feels better to share those good moments. And don’t get me wrong, I think if he would have had a chance to pass me at any point he would have gone for it, for the win, but I just knew that that 0.8s/0.9s gap was enough to know that we could play smart. But yeah, what was obviously a great moment and we were joking about it and having a good laugh about the weekend and yeah, enjoying the moment.”

Norris: “I haven’t much more to add. I think Carlos has said it well, it’s always nice to be on the podium with whoever that you respect and get along with so the first time we’ve been able to be P1 and P2 – it’s in the wrong order! – but it’s alright for now. And yeah, I guess we had our first podium in Monaco, we were both there, so yeah, for Carlos to be on the top step is obviously great and he deserves it. He’s done a very good job the last few weekends but to be up there too and to share it and yeah, just all of us, we’ve always got along since 2018, 2019 so yeah, always a pleasure and I’m sure and I hope there’ll be more moments like it.”

Protecting P2 more than winning –

Norris: “It was protecting P2. George couldn’t overtake me, he struggled to overtake me when he had a five, six tenths advantage, so the chances of me getting past Carlos with maybe a one-tenth advantage, there was no chance. Carlos played it smart. There was no need for me to try and attack him. The more I attacked him, probably the more vulnerable I would have been from both the guys behind and I wouldn’t be sitting here, we wouldn’t be on the podium if I played it differently, you know. So, it was stressful, stressful last few laps, for sure. I think we both knew as soon as the VSC came out, we had to put in a stint-and-a-half and try to open up the gap as big as possible. But they still caught us. And then it was about not making a mistake.

“I knew with George, he was going to pressure me a lot. He did and I had to defend quite a bit into 15, or 14. That’s when Carlos backed off after that when there was a little bit of a gap and allowed me to get the DRS which was very helpful. So I think we together played it in a smart way to get the Mercs to stay behind us. The last lap then I had a bit more of a breather. I hit the wall, where George also hit the wall, but I hit it with the front so I kind of panicked a bit, thinking maybe I just messed it all up, but it damaged the steering, in terms of it was just off-centre. But luckily, it wasn’t nothing more than that. So an amazing race, a stressful race from start to finish. A lot of management, but perfectly executed.”

Help from Sainz –

Norris: “I mean, he made a couple of mistakes. But no, I think our pace was strong. Honestly, I think initially I started to catch him myself. I think our pace was a bit better towards the end of stints. The Ferrari was probably better in the initial part of stints. So, I think that would have caught up to him ever so slightly anyway. I think I would have got into DRS. But it was more that when there was a gap, when I was most under pressure from George, that’s when he most helped me out. So yeah, I guess it helped me keep him from not getting under pressure, from getting attacked, because I’m sure if I had got overtaken, Carlos would have had a lot more stress too, you know? But he drove a good race. Both George and Lewis and, of course, Carlos, drove a great race to not make any mistakes, not have any lock-ups or any of these things, and finish the way we did.”

Here’s how the battle panned out: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2023-singapore-grand-prix-the-frantic-final-laps-as-sainz-battles-to-hold-off-norris-russell-and-hamilton.1777300254289144255.html

Here’s how F1 Singapore GP panned out

L'entrada Sainz, Norris relay working in tandem to beat Mercedes pair ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

Williams has shared first photos of its fan-voted ‘Bolder than Bold’ Gulf International livery ahead of this weekend’s F1 Singapore GP. The special livery will be not just used up in Singapore, but also in races in Japan and Qatar.

Here’s a small statement from Williams –

“Williams Racing is delighted to unveil the bespoke Williams Racing x Gulf Oil International fan voted livery ‘Bolder Than Bold’, which the team is showcasing at the 2023 Singapore, Japanese and Qatar Grands Prix. An enormous 180,000 votes were cast across the closely fought competition, which was designed to celebrate the spirit of two iconic motorsport brands and is poised to deliver an historic moment on the track.

“This livery celebrates the boldness of those determined to make their mark, keep progressing and pushing boundaries. It embodies more than just being brave, heroic, or fearless. It represents an unwavering commitment to never giving up and always approaching challenges with confidence. Gulf and Williams Racing share a resolute belief in being bold on and off the track.”

https://x.com/WilliamsRacing/status/1702366603285786910?s=20

Here’s Williams hiring new junior

Here’s Alexander Albon on Monza paddock

Here’s James Vowles on Williams’ focus

L'entrada Photo: Williams unveils fan-voted livery ahead of Singapore GP ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.

In another livery tweak, McLaren has presented a fresh one for the upcoming races in Singapore and Japan in partnership with its sponsor OKX. The ‘stealth mode’ design was unveiled in the city ahead of the Singapore GP this weekend.

There is more black on the car in the stealth mode with less of papaya. The livery was revealed in a special event in Singapore at the Lantern, Fullerton Bay Hotel which was attended by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as well.

There is a limited edition t-shirt available too at McLaren Store as the F1 team will also hold special events in Singapore for the fans. “Our partnership with OKX goes from strength to strength, and it’s fantastic to celebrate it with this incredible livery,” said Zak Brown.

“Stealth Mode flips our race car’s colours, bringing something exciting and different to these two great races in Singapore and Japan. We hope fans will love it as much as we do and get a chance to enjoy the fan zone to connect with our team. OKX are a dedicated supporter of McLaren’s journey, and in turn we’re proud to bring our partnership to life on track through the global platform of Formula 1.”

At the same time, OKX’s Haider Rafique added: “Success on the track, and in the Web3 world, is only possible through teamwork, creativity and innovation. Stealth Mode is inspired by these common principles. It’s also a way for us to celebrate the return of F1 to the Asia Pacific region, which is the epicentre of Web3 in many ways. As Stealth Mode hits the track this weekend we wish the best of luck to Lando and Oscar in what we hope will be a strong performing MCL60.”

https://x.com/McLarenF1/status/1701883477707153735?s=20

Here’s Lando Norris on radio moaning

Here’s McLaren on review of Monza clash

Here’s Lando Norris on partnering Max Verstappen

L'entrada McLaren reveals ‘stealth mode’ livery for Singapore and Japan ha aparegut primer a FormulaRapida.net.